A sequel to
Beginning Chinese Reader
and
Intermediate Chinese Reader,
this text, the eleventh in a series produced under the auspices of Seton Hall University, is closely correlated with the author’s
Advanced Chinese
Character Text for Advanced Chinese.
It contains 400 new characters, some 3,000 compounds, and about 20,000 characters of running text.  All compounds appear in illustrative sentences and in narrative or expository materials, including adaptations of articles and stories by Chinese authors.  Supplementary lessons present reading material using the simplified characters adopted in mainland China.  A stroke-order chart is provided for characters that students might find difficult to write.  In addition to a pinyin index, there are three summary charts in which the characters are arranged by lesson, by number of strokes, and by radical.  A fourth chart contrasts regular and simplified characters; a fifth chart shows the differences between two typefaces; and a sixth chart presents variant forms of the same character.  This series has been supported by contract with the United States Office of Education.
Mr. DeFrancis is professor of Chinese at the University of Hawaii.